Microsoft's Windows 8 TV Ad Blitz Swamps Twitter

Microsoft 'Earns' the Social Conversation By Spending a Bundle On TV

Big TV events cause a ripple effect in social media. That's also true of big TV ad campaigns, such as the blitz Microsoft has unleashed on the world for Windows 8. Up 159,000 social mentions over its weekly average, Microsoft's Windows 8 moved into the No. 1 spot last week on Ad Age 's Brand Chatter Chart. Microsoft's Windows 8 began trending two weeks ago when it entered the chart at No. 5.

Analytics firm Bluefin say the conversation on Twitter is correlated to the ads running on TV, which brings us to the conundrum of Twitter's ad business. That is , if you spend enough on old media, you'll get a conversation on Twitter for free.

Microsoft is certainly spending a bundle on Windows 8, estimates say well over a billion on a launch CEO Steve Ballmer has called "a make or break moment" for the company. (Microsoft spent just over a billion on all ads except search in 2011, according to Ad Age DataCenter.)

Just behind Microsoft, a battle for video-game supremacy is playing out with Activision's "Call of Duty: Black Ops 2" battling Microsoft's "Halo 4." Look for Activision to move up this week after releasing its Robert Downey Jr. trailer online and on ESPN's "Monday Night Football."

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Michael Learmonth

Michael covers the intersection of technology, media and marketing, including Google, Facebook, Twitter and AOL. He edits the Digital section of AdAge.com and oversees editions of Ad Age's Digital Conference in New York and San Francisco. He joined Advertising Age in 2008 after working at Silicon Alley Insider, Variety, Reuters and The Industry Standard.